As usual Stoll had a stand at this year's Pitti Filati in Florence, where the flat knitting machine specialist from the Karl Mayer Group introduced its new Nocturno trend collection. In addition, developments from Stoll Italia were also on show, which were created in collaboration with the yarn manufacturer IAFIL Industria Ambrosiana Filati S.p.A. The digital software products of the Create family were also demonstrated on request.

In addition to its participation as an exhibitor, Stoll, together with three other companies, led the Training Days project at Pitti Filati, designed for the professional development of the entire community of operators.

Stoll's trade fair presentation at this year's Pitti Filati was organised by its subsidiary Stoll Italia and was a complete success. Karl Mayer’s Ulrike Schlenker asked Jörg Hartmann, Head of Fashion & Technology at Stoll, for his feedback on the trade fair.

Ulrike Schlenker (US): How do you rate the results of the Stoll presentation at this year’s Pitti Filati?

Jörg Hartmann (JH): I am very satisfied. We had more than 200 visitors to our stand, including existing customers and potential new customers, and held numerous technical discussions about new developments and upcoming projects. Follow-up appointments have already been planned. New business impulses also arose from the exchange with our customers and their customers about our new Trend Collection.

Our presence was also very important in view of the competitive situation. Many of our competitors are increasingly using Pitti Filati as a sales platform. This included Shima Seiki, which exhibited three knitting machines. In addition, a Chinese manufacturer was represented for the first time with an industry innovation, a new E1.0 machine gauge.

US: A trade fair is always a trend barometer. What did you learn about upcoming developments from the discussions?

JH: Our direct customers from Italy are reporting an increasing demand from brands for fine gauges. The patterns in our Trend Collection, which were produced on the finest Stoll fine knitting machine in E20, therefore received a great deal of attention.

Some customers had also already produced their own items on their E20 sample machines and confirmed the great interest of the brands in the fine articles. They are now planning investments to expand their machine capacities.

US: What did Stoll contribute to the Training Days project, and what knowledge did we impart? And what was the response to our contribution?

JH: The Training Days are a new area for corporate communication at Pitti Filati. We contributed to this with a presentation from our Italian location Stoll Italia and were also able to inspire a large number of participants. The good response was mainly due to the content. The focus of the presentation was on sustainability and thus on a topic of the future also for the knitting sector, which is of particular interest to young people.

US: Thank you very much for these insights.

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